If you’re still thinking of AI as a nifty assistant or a threat to white-collar jobs, Jensen Huang wants to change your perspective, dramatically. In a captivating conversation at the Milken Institute, the Nvidia founder and CEO laid out an audacious but clear-eyed roadmap: artificial intelligence isn’t just a tech wave. It’s the next industrial revolution. And Nvidia? It’s not a chipmaker anymore. It’s the backbone builder of this new era, a $200B/year AI infrastructure powerhouse.
Three Layers of the AI Revolution
AI as a Digital Workforce Forget the old metaphor of computers as tools. According to Huang, AI is a digital robot. It doesn’t just sit there waiting for commands, it performs work autonomously, whether it’s translating languages, solving problems, or synthesising new proteins. This means the AI economy is tapping into the $100 trillion global economy, not just the $1 trillion IT sector.
AI Factories are the New Industrial Backbone Huang’s most mind-bending metaphor? AI isn’t just software. It’s manufactured. And the manufacturing takes place in giant, energy-intensive “AI factories” that process data and generate “tokens”, which can become words, images, videos, drugs, or robot instructions. Nvidia is now building these factories at gigawatt scale, with price tags of $50–60 billion each. Tens of these facilities will be erected globally in the next decade.
A New Global Infrastructure: Intelligence In the past, we built infrastructure around energy or information. Now, we’re building the “intelligence infrastructure.” Huang compares AI’s role today to the early days of the internet, hard to define, but soon to be utterly essential in everything from healthcare and finance to logistics, manufacturing, and entertainment.
From Displacement to Empowerment: AI & Jobs
Yes, jobs will be affected. But Huang is adamant: AI won’t take your job, someone using AI will. He frames AI not as a threat, but as a profound equaliser. Programming has long been the domain of 30 million specialists. But AI makes computing accessible to anyone. Just ask it how to help you, whether you’re a 12-year-old or a PhD.
Huang sees AI as a tool to close the technology divide, not widen it. Whether you’re a teacher, a doctor, or a farmer, AI can now be your co-pilot.
Why Nvidia Won (and Intel Didn’t)
Nvidia’s story isn’t just one of vision, it’s one of relentless perseverance. While Intel stuck to its script, Huang and his team chased hard problems no one else wanted, like solving computing challenges traditional chips couldn’t. Nvidia built its entire computing stack from the ground up: architecture, chips, systems, software, and ecosystem. Today, that “stack” powers everything from ChatGPT to cutting-edge drug discovery.
Their culture? A heady mix of long-suffering, constant innovation, and humility. Huang jokes they’ve been “always going out of business for 30 years.” It’s this paranoia that keeps them hungry.
The Trillion-Dollar AI Industries of Tomorrow
Today’s AI industry mostly powers the consumer internet. But the future? Huang sees AI transforming:
Healthcare & Life Sciences – From virtual proteins to virtual cells.
Manufacturing – Gigantic robotic systems orchestrating robotic sub-assemblies.
Industrial Robotics – What Huang calls “Physical AI.”
This is the trillion-dollar runway Nvidia is building toward. Robots building robots building robots? That’s not science fiction, it’s near-term vision.
The Geopolitics of AI: Should the US Export?
On the topic of export restrictions, Huang walks a diplomatic tightrope. While he understands national security concerns, he believes banning AI tech exports cedes ground to rivals like Huawei. The better strategy? Export American standards. Dominate the global ecosystem. Build AI on U.S. terms, not in isolation.
And oh, by the way, China is a $50 billion market Nvidia is currently restricted from. That’s like “leaving an entire Boeing” on the table, he says.
Key Traits of Nvidia Staffers.
If you’re wondering who the amazing people are who drive this powerhouse business, here’s Huang’s criteria for Nvidia employees:
Domain expertise (robotics, biology, finance, you name it)
Curiosity and general intelligence
And most importantly? A love of hard work and suffering.
Yes, suffering. Because at Nvidia, building the future isn’t glamorous. It’s just… really hard. But worth it.
The TAMIM Takeaway
At TAMIM, we believe AI is not just a vertical, it’s a horizontal that touches every industry. Jensen Huang’s vision reinforces our thesis: the companies that understand how to build, adopt, and deploy AI infrastructure are the ones that will shape the next economy.
Whether you’re investing in listed equities or private secondaries, understanding how the AI ecosystem scales, from tokens to trillion-dollar factories is key. Nvidia may be at the centre of it now. But the web of opportunity around it is vast and only beginning.
Disclaimer: As at the date of publication, TAMIM Asset Management does not hold any of the companies mentioned in this article. This information is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
This week’s TAMIM Reading List dives into a world quietly reshaped by pressure, disruption, and innovation. AI isn’t just transforming workflows; it’s already eliminating jobs, while bots are gaming the music industry for millions. In physics, scientists are chasing a new class of particles that could redefine our understanding of matter. We also explore how the icy past sculpted Canada’s present and why some economists believe the U.S. is trapped in a state of stalled growth. From sky-high forests reimagining urban living to rising employee stress threatening business performance, each piece reveals how the systems we rely on are either adapting or reaching their limits.
Global energy markets today sit at the intersection of volatility, policy shifts, and long-term transformation. From the unpredictability of fossil fuel supply to the growing (but not unchallenged) role of renewables, investors face a landscape rich in opportunity but fraught with complexity. Within this complexity, however, lie a number of fundamental certainties: the need for secure energy, resilient infrastructure, and pragmatic decarbonisation.
At TAMIM, we invest in these certainties through companies that combine diversified energy sources with infrastructure expertise. In this piece, we profile three companies, Engie, A2A, and Quanta Services, that embody this balanced approach. These businesses are positioned to benefit not from a single energy ideology, but from the realities of the evolving global energy architecture. As Jensen Huang recently hinted at the Milken Institute, success in the modern era will come from those who build essential infrastructure, both physical and digital, and adapt quickly to systemic shifts.
ENGIE SA (EPA: ENGI): The Pragmatic Decarboniser
Engie, the French multinational utility giant, offers one of the most realistic blueprints for energy transition. With operations in electricity generation, natural gas, and energy services, it combines legacy infrastructure with modern renewables and innovation. Crucially, it has not fallen into the trap of betting entirely on one technology or region.
The firm has doubled down on hybrid energy development, maintaining its natural gas and nuclear backbone while accelerating solar and wind expansion. This balanced energy strategy means it can adapt flexibly to policy changes and demand shifts, an echo of Huang’s point that resilient systems are built through modularity and diversified capability.
In 2024, Engie reported strong cash flow from its thermal and nuclear assets while increasing investment into green hydrogen and energy efficiency solutions. Revenues topped €95 billion, with EBITDA margins improving year-on-year thanks to higher regulated returns and cost efficiencies. It’s this dual-engine of legacy earnings and future-forward investment that gives us confidence in its resilience.
Moreover, Engie’s grid and flexibility services make it a linchpin of the wider energy transition. As electricity networks become more dynamic, balancing intermittent renewable sources with constant baseload power will require infrastructure that can absorb complexity. Engie’s expertise in demand-side management and decentralised energy aligns well with this need.
A2A S.p.A. (BIT: A2A): Local Strength with Global Relevance
Italy’s A2A might not be a household name, but its strategic importance to regional energy resilience and its alignment with broader EU energy trends make it a standout holding. A2A is a vertically integrated utility, managing power generation, distribution, waste-to-energy, and water systems primarily in Northern Italy.
Like Engie, A2A benefits from a pragmatic energy mix: natural gas and hydro provide baseload stability, while renewables like solar and wind are layered in as policy and economics allow. In 2023, A2A reported revenues of €22.2 billion, with net income growing by 11%. Its investment plan of over €18 billion by 2030 is heavily weighted toward decarbonisation and infrastructure upgrades.
What makes A2A particularly interesting is its integration of circular economy principles into core operations, waste-to-energy, district heating, and closed-loop water management are not just ESG window dressing, but contributors to bottom-line stability. This kind of “real asset” infrastructure thinking, layering resilience, efficiency, and regulatory alignment, is the hallmark of companies that thrive in uncertain times.
As Jensen Huang has articulated in broader discussions of industrial transformation, the new economy rewards those who combine physical infrastructure with data and optimisation. A2A’s use of digital grid management, smart metering, and predictive maintenance makes it more than just a utility, it is a systems company, and one that the market continues to underestimate.
Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR): Building the Backbone of the Grid
While utilities produce and distribute energy, someone has to build and maintain the physical systems that underpin it. That someone is often Quanta Services, a North American powerhouse in engineering and construction for power, telecom, and pipeline infrastructure.
Quanta plays a key “pick-and-shovel” role in the energy transition. Its clients include utilities, government agencies, and private developers seeking to upgrade aging grids, deploy renewables, or extend broadband networks. From transmission line upgrades to substation retrofits, Quanta is on the frontlines of infrastructure modernisation.
Its most recent earnings saw revenue grow 9% to $19.4 billion, with a robust backlog of $31 billion. Importantly, Quanta is seeing accelerating demand for high-voltage projects and renewable integration. These projects often stretch over years and offer visibility into earnings and cash flow. The company’s operating margins remain stable despite inflationary pressures, testament to its execution and contractual pricing models.
Quanta’s projects provide the physical conduit for national digital and energy ambitions. It’s hard to digitise a grid, or decarbonise one, without digging, wiring, and integrating. Quanta enables this foundation.
Navigating the Energy Crossroads
Our investment in these three names reflects a view that the global energy market is undergoing a managed, not manic, transition. A few realities support this thesis:
“Drill, Baby, Drill” Has Limits: While U.S. political rhetoric often leans toward energy independence via hydrocarbons, capital discipline remains high among producers. Supply is constrained by cost, ESG pressure, and uncertainty about future demand.
OPEC’s Dilemma: Recent indications suggest that OPEC, particularly Saudi Arabia, is winding back production cuts to stabilise revenue. With global sporting events and ambitious economic programs underway, these nations need stable cash flow.
Renewables Reset: The narrative of 100% renewables is being revised. Spain’s recent grid blackouts and Orsted’s pullback from offshore wind projects highlight the limits of intermittent energy when not paired with sufficient baseload or storage.
In response, Germany’s inclusion of nuclear in its clean energy taxonomy is a signal that Europe is recalibrating. This creates an opportunity for companies with flexible and diversified power generation assets. It also positions companies like Quanta, which stitch these systems together, as essential economic enablers.
The TAMIM Takeaway: Investing Where Real Change Happens
As our PAR (Premium, Action, Resilience) model suggests, energy infrastructure names that score well across risk-adjusted valuation, news flow, and robustness deserve attention. Fundamental due diligence (ASG: Accounting, Strategic, Governance) then ensures we avoid the pitfalls of over-promised transformation. Infrastructure, especially that which enables flexibility, modularity, and adaptation, is the most valuable asset class in an age of systems change.
Our focus on Engie, A2A, and Quanta Services illustrates how patient capital can still earn compelling returns by owning essential businesses in flux-heavy sectors. These are not fads, they are foundational.
Actionable insights for investors:
Look for energy companies that blend legacy earnings with future-facing strategy.
Invest in enablers such as businesses that make the system work, not just those who supply or consume energy.
Embrace policy risk as a source of opportunity: regulation drives infrastructure spend.
Use macro uncertainty to build positions in quality, cash-generative names with multi-decade tailwinds.
Keep your eyes focused as next week we will be unveiling a new investment solution targeting global infrastructure, tailored to capture precisely this shift. As the global rollout of infrastructure accelerates across digital, transport, energy, and communications, we intend to be front and centre. Let the builders lead the way.
Disclaimer: ENGIE SA (EPA: ENGI), A2A S.p.A. (BIT: A2A) and Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR) are held in TAMIM Portfolios as at date of article publication. Holdings can change substantially at any given time. Source: Company ASX material, discussions with management, Tenva Capital Research.
This week’s TAMIM Reading List explores the strange, brilliant, and sometimes overlooked intersections of history, technology, and human behaviour. A Cold War-era decision to remain silent helped avert nuclear disaster and offers a timely lesson for the AI age. A witty collection of financial quotes reminds us that markets are as much about psychology as numbers. We unpack why equity markets tend to bounce back, and how Australia’s most venomous creatures are becoming unlikely heroes in medicine. The Chinese government’s approach to training deceptive AI raises big questions, while a guide to secure browsers helps you stay one step ahead in the digital age. We also take a surprising detour into the NBA’s obsession with hand care. Finally, a fresh perspective invites us to consider how modern life may be more luxurious than we realise.
Few investors have shaped modern markets quite like Ken Griffin. From installing a satellite dish on the roof of his Harvard dorm to building Citadel into the most profitable hedge fund in history, Griffin’s journey is a masterclass in conviction, strategy, and relentless learning.
In a wide-ranging conversation at Stanford’s “View from the Top” series, Griffin shared insights from over three decades of investing. This wasn’t just about P&L; it was about resilience, adaptability, the importance of culture, and why selling is the most underrated skill in business. For investors, especially those navigating today’s volatile and AI-disrupted markets, there’s a lot to unpack.
Here are the key lessons that resonate with our own philosophy at Tamim Asset Management.
1. Start with a Competitive Advantage
Griffin’s first principle, whether launching Citadel in 1990 or evaluating a new idea today, is deceptively simple: know your edge.
“If I can’t establish what our competitive advantage is going to be, there’s no point starting the journey.”
This is timeless. For professional and private investors alike, every position should begin with the same question: what do I know or understand better than the market? At Tamim, our edge lies in deep company-level research, identifying underappreciated opportunities, and maintaining patience when the market overreacts.
Whether you’re stock-picking, backing a fund, or running a business, know your moat, strengthen it, and revisit it often.
2. Hire for Talent, Train for Culture
In the early days, Griffin couldn’t compete for veteran Wall Street talent, so he focused on something even more powerful: bright young minds, well-paid, with responsibility and a mission.
“We hired really bright, ambitious people. We gave them a tremendous amount of responsibility.”
The result? Citadel alumni now run desks at JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, and beyond. For investors, this is a reminder to back teams who can attract and retain top talent. The quality of people, be it in a listed company or a fund manager, is often the greatest predictor of long-term success.
Look past the headlines and focus on leadership, alignment, and culture.
Griffin described Citadel as a place defined by its rate of learning, a culture of rapid iteration, debate, and relentless improvement.
“An incredibly high rate of learning is the essence of what makes our culture so successful.”
Investors must operate the same way. Market dynamics change. What worked five years ago may be obsolete today. Whether it’s understanding new sectors, decoding earnings calls, or evaluating macro risk, curiosity and adaptability are essential.
At TAMIM, we call this the feedback loop: hypothesis, test, review, refine. This is how investment processes evolve, and how alpha is sustained.
4. Selling Is the Most Underrated Skill
Perhaps the most surprising takeaway from Griffin’s interview was his passionate argument for learning to sell.
“If we’re all going to eat, someone has to sell.”
He shared how a $10 plaque in his mentor’s office changed his perspective: selling isn’t sleazy, it’s survival. Whether it’s pitching to investors, onboarding clients, or communicating a stock thesis, selling matters.
For investors, this applies to how you communicate conviction, how you network, and how you build relationships in the investing ecosystem.
Great ideas die in silence. Learn to articulate your edge.
5. Take Risk When You Have Little to Lose
Griffin started Citadel at 22 with $1 million in backing. His mindset?
“When you’re in your 20s, what’s your worst-case scenario? It’s not that bad.”
While the specifics won’t apply to everyone, the principle holds: understand your risk asymmetry. Early in your career, or at times of personal or portfolio strength, you can afford to swing harder.
At TAMIM, we assess risk not just by volatility, but by context. When balance sheets are strong and optionality is high, risk-taking can be rational, even essential.
6. Press Your Advantage. Let Go When You’re Wrong.
The best investors know when they’re right, and they act decisively. Just as importantly, they know when they’re wrong and move on without emotion.
“My best stock pickers are right 54% of the time. The key is: they press when they’re right, and they let go when they’re wrong.”
This is one of the hardest lessons in investing. We fall in love with our ideas. We ignore new evidence. We rationalise underperformance. But to succeed, you must be clinical.
At TAMIM, our internal discipline forces regular position reviews, catalysts reassessments, and a framework to reduce or exit when the facts change.
7. Know Where AI Fits and Where It Doesn’t
Griffin offered a sobering take on generative AI:
“It’s a productivity enhancement tool. It saves time. But I don’t think it will revolutionise most of what we do in finance.”
He argues that AI excels at static problems (e.g. radiology, translation) but struggles with forward-looking domains like investing. However, he also believes AI will change the world around us, automating call centres, transforming marketing, and displacing white-collar work.
The investor takeaway? Don’t dismiss AI, but don’t blindly assume it will solve everything. Focus on companies deploying AI to real-world problems and improving margins, not just those with buzzwords in their investor decks.
8. Strategy Is Everything
One of Griffin’s final reflections was a strategic challenge to the audience:
“If I were starting again today, the first question I’d ask is: where do we have a competitive advantage?”
It’s a question every investor should ask at both the fund and position level. What is our edge? How durable is it? Where are we vulnerable?
Great businesses, and great portfolios, are built on strategy, not just analysis. It’s not enough to understand a balance sheet. You must understand the battlefield.
Ken Griffin’s journey is not about luck. It’s about strategy, team-building, and relentless adaptation. The markets have changed since 1990, but the principles of great investing endure:
Know your edge
Hire great people
Build learning systems
Sell with conviction
Take risk when you can
Let go when you’re wrong
Use AI wisely
Always lead with strategy
At TAMIM, we align closely with these ideas. We believe in backing founder-led companies, staying nimble in a changing world, and always being students of the market. We’re not here to play it safe, we’re here to play it smart.
In a world that’s becoming more complex, noisy, and fast-moving, clarity matters more than ever. Sometimes, the best lessons don’t come from textbooks, but from those who’ve built empires in the real world.
Engie, the French multinational utility giant, offers one of the most realistic blueprints for energy transition. With operations in electricity generation, natural gas, and energy services, it combines legacy infrastructure with modern renewables and innovation. Crucially, it has not fallen into the trap of betting entirely on one technology or region.
Italy’s A2A might not be a household name, but its strategic importance to regional energy resilience and its alignment with broader EU energy trends make it a standout holding. A2A is a vertically integrated utility, managing power generation, distribution, waste-to-energy, and water systems primarily in Northern Italy.
While utilities produce and distribute energy, someone has to build and maintain the physical systems that underpin it. That someone is often Quanta Services, a North American powerhouse in engineering and construction for power, telecom, and pipeline infrastructure.
